Rowberry thrilled by Newport’s latest cup upset

Manager James Rowberry is relishing his first experience of Newport’s reputation as knockout specialists as his side fought back to beat League One Portsmouth 3-2 and reach the Carabao Cup third round.

The Exiles enjoyed plenty of long cup runs under previous boss Michael Flynn, welcoming Manchester City, Tottenham, Leicester, Leeds, Newcastle and West Ham to Rodney Parade.

And now Rowberry is hoping to face one of the Premier League big boys after substitute James Waite capped a fine comeback against Pompey.

“I’m lost for words, the players were outstanding,” said Rowberry.

“I’ve been waiting for a cup run for a long time, I’ve been envious of it, and I’ve wanted to be part of it.

“I’ve never had a good cup run but now we’re starting to get one together.”

The visitors led 2-1 at the break thanks to two goals from Ronan Curtis either side of Will Evans’ equaliser.

And they missed a host of chances before Aaron Wildig levelled again after 49 minutes and Waite hit the winner 16 minutes from time.

Let down

Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley felt let down by his side in the second half.

“I’m disappointed, it was a messy performance from us,” he said.

“Credit to Newport, I thought they played at 100mph and did what they often do in cup games here and that’s the reason they’ve got the record they have.

“I thought we weathered the early storm and then got real control and we had so many chances the game should be out of sight.

“But in the second half, I don’t think we respected the game, and we didn’t do the basics. We didn’t defend well enough.

“We made eight changes, but I’d expect the team that we picked to be able to come here and win the game.”